12th July 2025: Reflective Retreat Day for ASLI members – Interpreters & Translators 

Venue: Ascot House Hotel, Harrogate  www.ascothouse.com, read more about the hotel and Harrogate Here.

Arrival Time: 9.00am arrival  

Start: 09.30am  

Finish: 4/4.30pm  

CPD Points for Day: 7 

Trainers: Sarah Bown (RSLI) & Dr Russell Aldersson (RSLI) 

Audience: ASLI members (Interpreter/Translator) 

Language of Event: Spoken English and BSL (spoken English for theoretical delivery and English/BSL for break-out/discussion groups)  

Context for the day: Accumulative stress, burnout and trauma are features which can be evidenced within many employment settings and particularly where there is high demand and low control (Karasek, 1979). 

Public sector professions are often cited as examples of high levels of stress and burnout which can result in early departure from a profession; Maddock (2024); Bahlman-van Ooijen, Wilmieke et al. (2023); Breaugh (2021); McKinley et al. (2020); Burrow, Williams, and Thomas (2020); Kinman, Clements and Hart (2017).   

Alongside this, there is growing evidence of these features within the arena of sign language interpreting; Rodríguez (2022); Dean and Pollard (2002, 2021); Schwenke, Ashby, and Gnilka (2014). 

As a profession, we have over recent decades, seen increasing growth in the development of theories, frameworks and qualifications to support our practice, for example; education/training & assessment programmes, national occupational standards, NRCPD registration requirements (including CPD and code of conduct), professional membership bodies, union membership, formal peer/professional support e.g. professional supervision, mentoring, coaching, counselling.   

However, within this context, it is important that we afford ourselves the time and space to reflect and evaluate, professionally and personally.   To take stock of our current ‘positioning’ and design our future focus.  To create a supportive space which provides for us to move along a continuum of subjective-objective reasoning, identifying the skills and attributes we hold both as individuals and as professionals is vital because fundamentally, our daily professional practice involves engaging with and processing the ideas and behaviour of other people.  

Maintaining a healthy balance between our professional practice role/s and our personal aspirations, is a crucial factor in the tool-kit towards professional and personal well-being and ultimately promoting a fulfilling and productive working life.   

The focus of this retreat day will be to incorporate theories/tools, strategies, discussion, break-out activities for group/pair/individual work and it will comprise of:  

a) Supportive reflective tools/models: Within the context of practice standards (e.g. NOS, reflective CPD requirements) we will consider a range of reflective tools and practical activities as frameworks and ‘interventions’ which can help us to further understand, navigate, evaluate practice, find alternative solutions and support our responses (internal/external) in managing work-place related pressures.  We will also examine how they can help us to support our colleagues and thus, our wider profession. 

b) Empower ourselves and our future career aspirations to:  

empower participants with tools to support pro-active design and management of career and personal development opportunities.   

incorporate practical frameworks for skill set identification, gaps and potentials.   

to look at opportunities for transferability/diversification to promote a flexible and adaptable working life and career longevity.  

The environment:  the training location has space for participants to move outside of the training room for time out, individual, pair/group reflective discussions etc.  

Training day price: £85.00 per person.  This price is for the training day, resources and refreshments (tea/coffee/biscuits).  

Group size: Minimum of 15 people.  Maximum of 20 people.   

Tickets: Tickets are available here: Reflective Retreat | Events | Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI) 

There is a deadline date for ticket sales of Monday 9th June 2025 by 12.00 noon.  

In order to meet the associated training costs, should the minimum number of ticket sales not be reached, the event will be cancelled and your ticket refunded*.  Should this happen you will be notified by Tuesday 10th June 2025.  

Food/Beverages:  Tea/Coffee will be provided.  Participants can bring their own lunch or purchase food locally.   

*Extend your stay for a holistic break?  If you wish to combine this reflective retreat with a long weekend in Harrogate, please see the following information for places to stay and visit, click Here.

*Accommodation cancellation: If you wish to look for accommodation, we would advise doing so via Booking.com and ensure that your choice of accommodation includes a free cancellation period to coincide with the ticket sale deadline above.    

Other social: If there is sufficient interest by Monday 9th June 2025, 12.00 noon, the trainers can arrange if desired, for a group meal on the Saturday evening after the training event.   

About the trainers:

Sarah Bown is a Senior Fellow & Academic Associate of the Higher Education Academy, NRCPD registered interpreter, senior practitioner/assessor & standards advisor.   She is an educational consultant, examiner and researcher.  Her professional practice spans four decades including 30 years of designing/delivering university level interpreter education programmes.  Between 1999-2025 she was a senior lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton.  

She has conceptualised critical reflective learning/practice as an integral part of an interpreting student’s journey at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This successful design has been consecutively praised by external examiners and disseminated at UK and EU levels. 

A university course leader across 2 decades and a driving force in curriculum innovation, she led a fledging interpreting programme to many achievements including the highest level of professional accreditation. 

A former public sector & charitable services interpreting manager. She has served EFSLI's committee of experts and Asli's editorial board. She currently sits as a Board Director for the Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI) with a UK strategic remit for trainee interpreters.  

Her research span includes interpreting, translation, health literacy/access of deaf people and most recently, significant contribution to awareness raising & the subsequent development of educational workshops/video resources for deaf people and the menopause e.g. corporate.hollandandbarrett.com/news/9-05-2024/  

A passion for sport, the natural world, travel and music has been a lifelong feature for her.  She currently lives in the Midlands with her husband. 

Russell Aldersson is a freelance interpreter, practice assessor, senior practitioner and professional supervisor. He is also a qualified teacher and currently teaches weekly grammar and reading classes to deaf adults with the City Literary Institute and his doctorate research gave focus to the role of BSL in the teaching of English through the lens of translanguaging. Additionally, he works as a specialist academic support tutor for deaf adults undertaking higher education degrees. Outside of work he enjoys travel and language study and is about to embark on a master’s in creative writing. After more than three decades away he has returned to his hometown of Harrogate.